


the luxurious planetary winter wonderland resort

by undodgedbullet



Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 10:29:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17160329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/undodgedbullet/pseuds/undodgedbullet
Summary: The Doctor and Ace are planning to take a vacation but they end up in a place they shouldn't be with some people they shouldn't have met.





	the luxurious planetary winter wonderland resort

“Where are we going, Professor?” Ace finally asks the Doctor, who had practically been bursting with excitement ever since the morning. She’s found lately she doesn’t question it until the Doctor mentions it first or they’re already there, but right now he’s so excited that it’s impossible for her not to question it. He beams at her  in response to her question and Ace can’t help but smile as well, finding his enthusiasm to be contagious.

 

“A _planet_ , Ace!” the Doctor answers, as if he doesn’t realize that his reply doesn’t explain anything at all. He presses a few buttons and pulls a few levers on the TARDIS console, then does a twirl that ends up with him right next to Ace, and he reaches out to tap her on the nose. She scrunches her face but laughs, shaking her head at him.

 

“That doesn’t mean anything,” she tells him. He looks surprised at that and she watches as he takes off his hat and rests it om the scanner. She grins at his expression and explains, “We’re always going to planets.”

 

“Yes, but we’ve never been to this specific one! This is the Luxurious and Resort-ful Winter Wonderland Planet!” he informs her, doing a few more things on the console to send the TARDIS into flight. “It’s a planet that’s only open to the public during the month of December. It’s essentially a Christmas planet that people go to take vacations.”

 

“The Luxurious and Resort-ful Winter Wonderland Planet?” Ace repeats, glancing at him because she can’t tell if he’s being serious or not as she holds onto the console so she doesn’t fall over in case the Doctor is particularly bad at driving this time.

 

“Yes! Or the Luxurious Planetary Winter Wonderland Resort for short!” he replies, ignoring both her lack of faith in his piloting skills and her doubtful expression. “I was thinking we’ve had so many adventures where we’ve almost died or gotten hurt that it was time for a _calm_ outing for once. And I’ve been wanting to come here for as long as I can remember, so I figured we finally could!”

 

“Yeah, but it sounds...” she trails off, not wanting to sound rude since it’s evident how excited the Doctor really is about this. But she’s been to a lot of different times and places since she started traveling with him and this doesn’t appear to be particularly outstanding. It could turn out to be the best place she’s ever been to, she supposes, but its name doesn’t do anything to help flatter it. “It almost sounds... cheap.”

  
“Cheap?” the Doctor repeats, looking at her like she’s grown two heads. Ace may not know anything about this planet but she should not be so quick to judge; the Doctor hasn’t been there yet but he already knows how amazing it is. “It’s not cheap! It’s the Luxurious Planetary Winter Wonderland Planet!”

 

The TARDIS lands and Ace sighs, smiling at him. She sounds exasperated but she finds she’s actually quite pleased he wants to bring her here. It doesn’t sound like the most appealing thing ever to her but she’s happy that he wants to share this, something he’s looking forward to, with her. She gives him a nod. “All right. I could do with a vacation, then.”

 

“Perfect!” the Doctor says, then nods in the direction of the wardrobe. “You might want to change into something warmer.”

 

Within seconds, Ace is heading towards the wardrobe. The Doctor takes this opportunity to change into something else himself, putting on a coat that is furry and almost engulfs him, looking gigantic on his short body. He switches his hat for another one, identical to the one he usually wears. Ace comes back in almost no time at all, wearing gloves and a long winter coat.

 

“Is this warm enough?” Ace asks, and then she has to struggle not to laugh once she sees what the Doctor is wearing. He nods, seeming to be oblivious to her amusement at his choice of attire, before he holds out his arm for her to take.

 

“Ready?” he asks her once she slips her arm in his.

 

She grins at him. “Always, Professor.”

 

He opens the doors of the TARDIS and they step out, directly onto sand underneath an unforgiving sun.

 

“What?” the Doctor says to himself, squinting as he looks around him and then up at the sky. He frowns, already beginning to mumble about how he was _sure_ he had put the right coordinates in before sending the TARDIS into flight. He has no idea where they have ended up but it’s certainly not winter on this planet.

 

“Some vacation planet this is,” Ace comments sarcastically as she covers her eyes with her hands to block out the brightness. She’s not actually upset, in fact she finds it funny because it is extremely rare that the Doctor is able to get them to the right place on the first or second attempts. “Where are we?”

 

“I don’t know, I must’ve made a wrong turn somewhere,” he admits, turning to face her with a shrug. It’s not a big deal, he’s sure he’ll be able to get them to the right place on the second try. “Let’s get back into the TARDIS so we can—”

 

He’s cut off when there a loud bang goes off several feet away, startling the both of them. He and Ace both turn and they see two people, seeming to have come from nowhere, running straight in their direction.

 

“What’s going on?” Ace asks as one of the two people ends up faster than the other, appearing to be heading directly towards her and the Doctor.

 

“I’m not sure,” the Doctor answers, frowning to himself as he sees recognition register on the first person’s face as she catches up to them. She grabs the Doctor by his coat and pulls him into the TARDIS without even a word, who grabs onto Ace’s coat and pulls her in behind him so she doesn’t get separated from him.

 

“Who is this?” Ace asks the Doctor as the TARDIS doors are shut once they’re inside.

 

“That’s exactly what I would like to know, Ace. Who are you and what are you doing here?” the Doctor demands, putting his hands on his hips as the person walks right past him to the console.

 

“I’m just passing through,” she says distractedly as she fiddles with a few things to send the ship into flight.

 

“Well,” the Doctor snarks, making his way over to her and eyeing what she’s doing. “Why do you seem to be flying my TARDIS?”

 

“Because I _am_ flying your TARDIS,” she replies, her nonchalant tone only  further infuriating the Doctor. She looks up at him and gives him a smile that is too sweet to be genuine. “I need to get somewhere fast, which means I can’t let you drive.”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the Doctor says, then shakes his head, asking again, “Who are you?”

 

“It doesn’t matter, I’m just—”

 

“ _Why_ do you think that just because you need to get somewhere, that means that you can steal my TARDIS without my permission?” the Doctor interrupts, growing more and more annoyed with how the conversation is not getting anywhere. They land and the woman turns to face him, his eyes roaming over her face. He can’t quite place who she is but he could swear he’s seen someone with hair like that at some point in his lives; it’d be very difficult to forget those blonde curls that look like they’re full of the very essence of time itself. “Do I know you?”

 

“No,” she answers with a shake of her head. “And I’m where I need to be so you won’t ever.”

 

She turns on her heels towards the doors, prepared to leave and be out of their sight forever, but the Doctor glances at Ace and she can tell how annoyed he is.

 

“You can’t just—” the Doctor cuts himself off, following her out. “You can’t just come into _my_ TARDIS, fly her somewhere, and then leave!”

 

“That’s exactly what I’m doing,” River answers like it’s nothing. They step outside, Ace right behind them, and the woman looks around at their surroundings. It’s not much different from where they had just been; it’s no longer sand that is underneath their feet but dirt and it’s a bit darker, as if the sun has slightly gone down, but still just as hot.

 

“Tell me who you are,” the Doctor insists, not willing to rest until he’s gotten some information on her. “For all I know, you could be some criminal planning to rob the royal family that is in charge of this place.”

 

The woman turns to look at him, eyebrows raised, but she otherwise doesn’t respond until she hesitates, a frown taking over her expression. “Something’s wrong with the TARDIS.”

 

“What?” the Doctor asks, immediately frowning with concern. “What do you mean?”

 

“ _I mean_ she’s acting oddly,” she says, resting her hand flat on the door and shaking her head. “Something’s definitely up with her.”

 

The Doctor follows her action and touches the ship, quickly pulling away when he realizes she’s right.

 

“Professor?” Ace asks, confused, having no idea who this person is or why she seems to have so much experience with the TARDIS or what has been happening ever since they landed.  It’s almost always impossible to fully follow along with the Doctor but this time, Ace found herself completely lost. “What is happening?”

 

“Well, Ace,” the Doctor begins, both looking and sounding very solemn, “it appears we’re stranded here.”

 

“We can’t be!” Ace says, shaking her head. “Can’t you fix the TARDIS?”

 

“No, Ace. Something is sucking all her power out. Unless we find whatever is absorbing her energy and stop it, then she can’t move from this spot.” He turns to the woman and points an accusatory finger at her. “What did you do to her?”

 

“I didn’t do anything,” she answers. “This has nothing to do with me.”

 

“Well, you knew something was up with her before even I did,” he says suspiciously. “And you won’t tell us who you are so I’m inclined to believe this is your fault.”

 

She sighs. “I’m Professor River Song. I needed the TARDIS to get away from someone who’s chasing me and that’s it. The problems she’s having is from something else, not me.”

 

“Well, _Professor River Song_ ,” the Doctor says, frowning, “why was someone chasing you?”

 

River is silent for a moment and then decides to tell him the truth. “I had stolen something from a few people and now they want it back. You were right when you said that I could be a criminal robbing the royal family. But it’s something that had been stolen from me a long time ago and I want it back.”

 

“What are you a professor of?” the Doctor asks, still not one hundred percent believing her.

 

“Archaeology,” she says simply.

 

The Doctor makes a face but otherwise doesn’t comment on her reply. “Well, Professor River Song, even if you had nothing to do with my TARDIS being stuck, it’s still your fault that we’re here. So I think it’s only fair that you help us get out of here.”

 

River hesitates for a moment and then nods. He does have a point. “Okay. Fine, I’ll help you leave. How are you going to find what’s absorbing all of her power?”

“With this,” the Doctor says, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his sonic screwdriver. He presses it on and holds it up to the sky. After a moment, he pulls it back down. “It appears to be coming from somewhere up there.”

 

“There’s nothing up there,” Ace comments as she tilts her head up. She has to look away quickly because it’s too bright.

 

“There’s the sun,” River says, and the Doctor wants to dispute her suggestion but he actually thinks about it and he looks at him in surprise.

 

“You could be right—”

 

“Of course I’m right. There’s nothing else here that could be taking that much power,” River explains.

 

“The question is why does the sun need all this power? What is it using it all for? And more importantly, how can we stop it?” the Doctor asks.

 

“There’s a base somewhere fairly close to here,” River says after a moment of thought. “All the technical things involved in running this place are done there. If we go, we might be able to find something that will help us.”

 

“Yes. We’ll do that.” The Doctor begins walking, wanting to fix the TARDIS to get out of here as quickly as possible.

 

“Other way,” River says to him, Ace snickering to herself as he dramatically turns to in the other direction. The sun seems to get even hotter as they make their way to the base River had mention and when they arrive, the three of them are out of breath and sweating. “This is it.”

 

The Doctor tries the door but it doesn’t budge. He takes out his sonic and tries that but it refuses to move. “It must have something too tough for my screwdriver to override.”

 

“Stand back,” River says, pulling a blaster out of her holster. The Doctor’s eyes widen and he ducks out of the way and River aims, shooting the lock. The door swings open and she walks in, turning back. “Well, come on. We don’t have all day.”

 

The Doctor follows, muttering something that Ace can’t hear properly but she’s certain he’s complaining about River.

 

“We’re looking for a generator of sorts,” the Doctor explains to Ace once they’re all inside and they’ve taken off their big winter coats. “It’s probably big, since it’s able to transfer enough energy to the sun that it completely drains the TARDIS.”

 

They begin on their search, the three of them deciding to split up so they can cover as much space as possible as quickly as possible. Ace mostly stays by the entrance of the base, searching for anything that might be able to help them. She shifts through the machinery, jumping back as something falls at her feet. She kneels down to see what it is and picks it up, turning it over in her hands.

 

“...Professor?”

 

“Yes?” both River and the Doctor ask, turning to her. The Doctor immediately shoots River an angry look when he realizes she had answered as well.

 

“I was talking to River,” Ace admits and the Doctor’s frown deepens, turning away. He does have a reason to be angry at River — this woman barged into his ship and brought them somewhere and is the reason why he and Ace can’t leave — and now Ace is calling her what she always calls _him_. Even though River is literally a professor, that doesn’t make the Doctor any less annoyed. He tells himself he isn’t jealous but he sees River’s glance out of the corner of his eye and he knows how smug she is.

 

River makes her way over to Ace and she kneels down next to her to see what she’s holding. “What did you find?”

 

Ace hands her the device. “Do you think this might help us?”

 

River takes it from her to examine and then she looks back up at Ace. “Ace, I think you’ve found what we’re looking for.”

 

“Really?” Ace asks, grinning, standing up. “Professor— Doctor, we might have found it!”

 

The Doctor comes over to look at it and he ruffles Ace’s hair. “You found it, Ace! You’ve saved the TARDIS!”

 

“How do we get it to work, though?” Ace asks and the Doctor once again pulls out his sonic.

 

“With this,” he says. “If I can find the frequency that this has been using to transfer all the power, then I can reverse it.”

 

He points the sonic at the generator and for a moment nothing happens and then it explodes, breaking apart. River gasps, leaning forward slightly. She points at something in the mess that has been made.

 

“That’s what I’ve been looking for this whole time. That’s what I was planning to steal,” she tells them, waiting a moment to make sure it’s safe to touch before she reaches out to take it. She shakes her head, “Of course they hid it in here.”

 

“Well, we found everything we came here for,” the Doctor says. “Ace and I can finally get out of here and go where we had been planning to, and you’ve found your... whatever that is.”

 

They leave the base and get back to the TARDIS and the Doctor is ready to say goodbye to River for good but Ace interrupts.

 

“There’s no way for her to get out of here, shouldn’t we drop her off somewhere?”

 

The Doctor grumbles but he eventually agrees. “Fine. Where can we take you, Miss Song?”

 

“I’ll just do it myself,” River replies, already at the console and plugging in coordinates. She rests her hand on it and silently asks the TARDIS to erase the Doctor and Ace’s memories of her completely when she leaves, smiling when she feels the ship hum in cooperation. They land and she flashes the other two a grin. “Well, it’s been a pleasure.”

 

She heads to the door and Ace waves. “Bye, Professor!”

 

“Goodbye, Miss Song,” the Doctor says and then turns away as River exits the ship. He turns to Ace. “ _Now_ we can go to the Luxurious Planetary Winter Wonderland Resort.”

 

He sends the ship into flight and when they land, he points at the scanner, which shows the scenery outside, letting them know they’ve ended up where they had been trying to go. The trees are barren but still manage to look nice, and they along with the ground covered with snow that makes everything look that much more magical.

 

“We’re definitely in the right place this time,” Ace comments, the Doctor grinning as they put their coats back on. “ _Finally_ ,” she teases, already making her way to the doors. The Doctor follows, fixing his hat, and they exit. “Oh, wow!”

 

“Isn’t it beautiful, Ace?” the Doctor asks as they look around them and it’s even better than what the Doctor had been imagining. He takes her arm and pulls her towards the official entrance of the resort, obviously very excited now that they’re actually here. They make their way over to a kiosk providing information about the planet and the Doctor opens a map. “Where do you want to go first? We could try getting something to eat.”

 

“Yes!” Ace answers quickly, nodding, finding she’s rather hungry after all the excitement from earlier.

 

“Well, what do we want?” He gestures to where several different restaurants are shown.

 

“How about... that one?” Ace asks, pointing at one of them. “That looks good.”

 

The Doctor nods. “Good choice!”

 

They begin on their journey to the restaurant, arriving fairly quickly and making their way inside.

 

“How many people?” one of the waiters asks the Doctor.

 

“Just two,” he replies.

 

“Okay, please wait just a moment before we can seat you and your daughter.”

 

“Thank you!” the Doctor says. They only have to wait a few seconds before they’re being brought over to a booth and handed menus. They open them up and Ace laughs when she sees what’s inside.

 

“Everything is Christmas related!” she says, grinning. “That’s so great.”

 

“Look at this!” the Doctor says, pointing at something on his menu. “Frost-tea the Snowman!”

 

He laughs in delight and they pick out their food. The waiter comes back and they tell him their orders, both of them getting deep into a conversation before someone catches the Doctor’s eye and he gets quiet without realizing it.

 

“What is it, Professor?” Ace asks him.

 

“Nothing,” he says at first, but then changes his mind as he leans forward a bit and lowers his voice. “Do you see that person over there? Two tables over? That’s... well, that’s me.”

 

“What do you mean, that’s you?” Ace asks, confused. “Aren’t you right here?”

 

“Yes, but that’s me in the past. That’s me a few regenerations ago. My second ever self, actually,” the Doctor explains, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible so he doesn’t attract the attention of his old self.

 

“Oh,” Ace says. “But I thought you had said that you’ve never been here before?”

 

“I haven’t. Well, not that I can remember, but—” The Doctor stops talking when the other Doctor decides to look over at that exact moment. “Oh, no,” he mumbles as the second Doctor says something to the person he’s with.

 

“What is it?”

 

“He’s seen me. And from what it looks like, he knows who I am.” He sighs. “Well, this explains why I don’t remember having been here before.”

 

The other Doctor makes his way over to the Doctor and Ace, the person he was sitting with at his side.

 

“Doctor, what are we doing?” the other person asks.

 

“Jamie, it appears I am here twice,” the other Doctor replies. He turns to the Doctor and Ace. “Hello, Doctor.”

 

“Hello, Doctor,” the Doctor says back. “Ace, this is Jamie and myself.”

 

The other Doctor takes Ace’s hand in both of his, shaking it. He then turns to the Doctor. “Since you’re here, I have a question for you. Jamie and I are searching for the President of Ice and Snow. You wouldn’t know where to find him, would you? Since you’ve already experienced everything I have.”

 

“No,” the Doctor says as he shakes his head. “Both of us being in the same place has caused me to forget everyth— wait, hold on. I can recall now. Yes, he was... He was in the snow palace.”

 

“Excellent. Thank you, Doctor. Goodbye, Ace. Come along, Jamie,” the Doctor says and with that, he and Jamie are already walking away.

 

Ace laughs as they leave and she turns back to the Doctor. “Well. Merry Christmas, Doctor.”

 

The Doctor laughs as well. “Merry Christmas, Ace.”


End file.
